Aware Super partners to invest in $1.65bn property platform

Aware Super has teamed up with Macquarie Asset Management (MAM)-owned Tribera, to invest in a property platform that will own and operate German purpose-built student accommodation assets, targeting a portfolio with more than $1.65 billion (€1bn) of investment capacity.

The partnership will own and operate high-quality prime student housing assets across key German markets including Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt.

The platform will target investments across the risk spectrum seeking an attractive risk-adjusted entry basis with the aim of unlocking value over the longer term.

"Germany's purpose-built student accommodation market offers exactly the kind of structural opportunity our global investment strategy is designed to capture - significant undersupply, strong and growing demand, and a compelling entry point as the market begins to institutionalise," Aware Super head of international and senior portfolio manager for property - UK Mathieu Elshout said.

"The establishment of the partnership will enable us to diversify our property portfolio both geographically into continental Europe and into a new alternative sector, while partnering with experienced operators in European student housing. We believe it will deliver strong long-term, risk-adjusted returns for our 1.3 million members."

As a specialist living platform, Tribera will be exclusively appointed to provide asset, property and development management services to the platform.

This comes after MAM's majority acquisition of Tribera in July 2025. The establishment of the partnership aimed to build upon Tribera's strategy of leveraging its sector specialist team to partner institutional capital with high-quality living assets across a range of markets and risk profiles.

MAM managing director James Bechely-Crundall added: "Our investment in Tribera is aligned to our strategy of establishing and incubating specialist real estate managers in sectors we believe are supported by significant structural tailwinds."

"We have high conviction that a scalable market opportunity exists in the European student housing sector and that Tribera is well positioned to partner institutional capital with best-in-class real estate opportunities at scale. We look forward to continuing to work with the business and its capital partners to support their growth ambitions."

Tribera chief executive Justin Hamer said the creation of the new partnership speaks to the confidence global investors have in the underlying fundamentals of the German student housing sector.

"We are excited to partner with Aware Super in creating community-driven living spaces across key German cities that seamlessly integrate innovation, sustainability and customer service," Hamer said.